Chilli Chang review/mod

Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
Phil - sensational effort! I think I'll have to build a pair of these for myself now :) (Last thing to decide is whether to build the full chili or just the half-chili...)

I was going to build the half-changs, but couldn't find a good source for fe207e's in oz. also the fe167e's are cheaper!

I like your homepage and project worklog, it's truly something to be admired. Your WIP link on the home page still points to your frugal horn project btw, not sure if that's your latest project or these chili's... (which sound better to you?)

Lastly, nice iphone/ipod touch you've got there in the second last pic of the chili build :)
 
What size is the room you're listening in, what's your listening distance from the speaker?

I helped some friends, we built some full changs and some half changs, both sets pioneer B20s + tweeter.

In my living room, where I listen across the short dimension, the speakers sounded poorly integrated. All bass, no mids - more so on the full chang, but still on the half. The reverse of your problem, I guess.

But in my friend's larger room, tucked into the corner and listened to from farther away the full Cs really sound like the party is in full swing. Still a party speaker, but in a good way. I haven't heard the half-Cs away from my living room.
 
My listening room is quite small in my current house, 3.5m wide and 3m deep. at the front left is the door which necessitates moving the left speaker about 1m toward the centre of the room, so the speakers will be about 2.5m apart, making the distance to each speaker about 2.8-3 metres.

My current bookshelf speakers use a 19mm tweeter and a 5.25" woofer, and I find even in a room as small as mine, they are very lacking at the bottom end. I've tried to augment this with a 12" subwoofer, but the midbass is still quite lacking.

Perhaps it's a bad idea to put my bookshelf speakers on top of bookshelves? (Should I bother with rigid spiked stands?)
 
chylld said:
Phil - sensational effort! I think I'll have to build a pair of these for myself now :) (Last thing to decide is whether to build the full chili or just the half-chili...)

I was going to build the half-changs, but couldn't find a good source for fe207e's in oz. also the fe167e's are cheaper!

I like your homepage and project worklog, it's truly something to be admired. Your WIP link on the home page still points to your frugal horn project btw, not sure if that's your latest project or these chili's... (which sound better to you?)

Lastly, nice iphone/ipod touch you've got there in the second last pic of the chili build :)

Hi Chylid - shame your down South otherwise you'd be quite welcome to come and have a listen - I'm just West of Brisbane.

Personally I'd build the full version if possible [WAF/Space etc factors allowing] I think the extra vent on top gives a larger and more spacious image.

Have you tried Major Music for Fostex drivers see ...

http://store.majormusic.com.au/s.nl...eTaxeKbh0Te34Pa38Ta38Naxr0?sc=2&category=3568

Their prices a while ago were really good but due to FX rates have gone back up again.

Yep, spotted the "duff" link - have been too lazy to fix it but now you've pointed it out will pull my finger out and fix.

It's really like comparing chalk and cheese to put the Frugal against the Chilli due to diver/box sizes. The Frugals went to their owners before I built the Chilli so can not do a side-by-side comparison [not that I'd be tempted!] - so I'll be politically correct and say each have their own merits.

Was wondering if I'd get a comment on the iPhone - well spotted. I've set it up to control the squeezeboxes but still use the dedicated remotes most of the time.

Cheers - Phil
 
AdamThorne said:
What size is the room you're listening in, what's your listening distance from the speaker?

I helped some friends, we built some full changs and some half changs, both sets pioneer B20s + tweeter.

In my living room, where I listen across the short dimension, the speakers sounded poorly integrated. All bass, no mids - more so on the full chang, but still on the half. The reverse of your problem, I guess.

But in my friend's larger room, tucked into the corner and listened to from farther away the full Cs really sound like the party is in full swing. Still a party speaker, but in a good way. I haven't heard the half-Cs away from my living room.

Gee - you guys are quick to reply sometimes … I was drafting my last post and pop there goes 3 more posts.

Adam - very interested in your comments and completely opposite to my experience.. I think I have a huge bass suck-out in my main room, so Chilli's there didn't sound too good. But in their intended location, my small bedroom which is a little over 3.5 x 3m they sound great. Just for convenience they pushed tight into the corners of the 3.5 m wall and angled in to the centre of the bed-head.

Never thought of a full range speaker as a "party animal" - even a good one. I've always thought they produced a more intimate/detailed sound - interesting!

Hey - Scott - have you listened to any of these designs is a large room, say 6 x 6 m???
 
greenie512 said:


Hi Chylid - shame your down South otherwise you'd be quite welcome to come and have a listen - I'm just West of Brisbane.

Personally I'd build the full version if possible [WAF/Space etc factors allowing] I think the extra vent on top gives a larger and more spacious image.

Have you tried Major Music for Fostex drivers see ...

http://store.majormusic.com.au/s.nl...eTaxeKbh0Te34Pa38Ta38Naxr0?sc=2&category=3568

Their prices a while ago were really good but due to FX rates have gone back up again.

Yep, spotted the "duff" link - have been too lazy to fix it but now you've pointed it out will pull my finger out and fix.

It's really like comparing chalk and cheese to put the Frugal against the Chilli due to diver/box sizes. The Frugals went to their owners before I built the Chilli so can not do a side-by-side comparison [not that I'd be tempted!] - so I'll be politically correct and say each have their own merits.

Was wondering if I'd get a comment on the iPhone - well spotted. I've set it up to control the squeezeboxes but still use the dedicated remotes most of the time.

Cheers - Phil


Hi Phil,

Thanks for the link and the advice. Certainly WAF is a factor (more like GAF in my case) especially since SWMBO was the one who bought me my current bookshelf speakers in the first place :bigeyes:

That said once the budget clears up a bit (Christmas doesn't help) I'll bring out the router and the jigsaw once again and start building.

I've actually been wanting to go up to Queensland to visit John from COEM Audio (top chap), you've just given me another reason to go! I'll see if I can twist things a bit at work to fall in my favour.

Jonathan
 
greenie512 said:
Hey - Scott - have you listened to any of these designs is a large room, say 6 x 6 m???

Yes indeed, albeit not quite of that size, as most UK homes are quite small, so opportunities are limited (my own room is about 11ft x 12 1/2ft). The larger the cabinet, the larger the room they are intended for. For the double-horns, you need a minimum listening distance of 8ft, & preferably more, so as an ROT, firing across rooms as Adam has found, usually isn't ideal unless you have a very large space.

The B20 is not really a hifi driver. Great for the money, but it's never going to trouble the Fostex units, which these cabinets were designed for.
 
some questions about the chili changs build

Phil, I hope you're ok with me posting some questions in your thread, if not let me know and I will move it to a new thread.

Your Chili's look great!! I realy like the green, same color as my amplifier.

I am also building a the moment the chili's for the fe167e and am a bit uncertain about the triangle in the back and the damping.

- The triangle in the back is approx the size of the triangle in the pdf plan from the frugal-horn site. But ...... now it looks so big. Will it not take too much volume? I could just cut it in half.

- I tried to read as much as possible in a lot of threads about the damping but could not find a conclusive answer (perhaps there is none...) I read somewhere that I should put wool felt on the back, top and one side in the driver-box and on both sides of the brace, and make sure I leave the vents clear. But also for instance in this thread that damping was removed because it did not sound ok. Any advice on a stating point for the damping? How can I tell if it sounds ok, should I use samples of a specific frequency or... help!!

I attached a small photo so you can see the triangle. (the speaker-box and triangle are not yet attached, just lied them in for the photo.

Thanks a lot in advance.

Jeroen
 

Attachments

  • dsc00619.jpg
    dsc00619.jpg
    73 KB · Views: 1,306
Re: some questions about the chili changs build

JeroenR said:
Phil, I hope you're ok with me posting some questions in your thread - Jeroen

Hi Jeroen - keep posting, the more the merrier and yes please add more pics. Dave's answered your questions.

As you can see in my constructions pics - http://www.greenie512.net/greenie512/html/wip.html I didn't bother with a triangle but put a flat piece in instead. Also this link has comments on my experience with dampening.

Cheers - Phil
 
JC951t said:
Hi Jereon
Glueing the felt might make the speaker sound dry.
No full range experience but from previous speaker
tweaks, this is what I'd observed.


Hmmm, I was planning to use glue... :xeye:

I could use just a few blobs but am afraid it might start "flapping" when playing music.

What method would be best to attch the cotton felt (=in my case cheap undercarpet that is only partly cotton)

Thanks,

Jeroen
 
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.